The Week That Was…

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, May 29, 2002

It seemed like yesterday the football season was kicking off, I was making plans of beating Bogan (which I learned the hard way, isn't easy to do, believe it or not).

Now we're faced with the end of another local sports year with baseball, softball, track, tennis and soccer all heading to post-season action.

Perhaps the team with the best run at a state title is the Laker soccer squad. The Lakers are one of the best teams in Division 4 and have only one blemish on their record.

Bad Axe tennis will also be looking at a state title as the Hatchets hit the courts this weekend.

In track, Bad Axe's Brad Gebauer and North Huron's Katie Kelly will look to defend their titles. Gebauer is the two-time defending champion in the pole vault and may look to finally reach 16-6, a mark which has eluded him.

Kelly will look to put her third state title under her belt if she can repeat in the 3,200. She won the event last year, just missing the meet record. If she runs her best time, she'll beat the mark by more than 20 seconds. Kelly also has a state title in cross country.

On thing is for sure, if you have an opportunity to get out there and support your local athletes, take advantage of it. They are some of the finest and need your support.

Good luck to all local athletes this weekend.

Hope in Tiger Town?

…Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, but the Tigers are playing a little better lately.

I think it may be too early to put the champagne on ice for the wild card berth. But it will be nice in a couple of weeks when baseball is the only sport going and we have something to look forward to.

You have to hand it to the…

…Red Wings as they sucked it up last night and forced a Game 7 with a 2-0 blanking of the Avs in Denver.

After Detroit lost Game 5, many, including myself, were writing off the Wings, but it was time for the stars to play like they can.

Friday night will be a Game 7 no one will want to miss.

With these two teams all bets are off.

Carolina (that hockey hotbed) will be waiting for the winner in the Stanley Cup finals.

As all know, this Game 7 is for the Stanley Cup, because no team from the East is going to beat Detroit or Colorado four times out of seven.

A day for the ages…

…A couple of weeks ago, Mike Cameron slammed four homers in a game. When he did it, he was the first to do so in about eight years.

About two weeks later, the Dodgers Shawn Green raised the bar.

On Thursday against Milwaukee, Green was 6-for-6, including four homers, a double, seven RBI and six runs scored. He also had 19 total bases, a new Major League record.

It's unbelievable to think, just 21 days after Cameron's day, Green could take it to the next level. It was without a doubt the greatest offensive performance of all time.

Green turned it into quite the week, as he batted a slow pitch-softball-like .593 with nine homers and 17 RBI - that's a good season for many players (minus the average).

A little double dip…

…For NASCAR driver Robbie Gordon.

On Sunday, Gordon raced in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 for a grand total of 1,098 miles on the day.

He didn't seem worse for the wear as he was able to make it out of his NASCAR ride under his own power.

Gordon had a respectable day, finishing eighth in the 500 and 16th in the 600.

Some people say drivers aren't athletes. I would like to see one of those people tell that to Robbie Gordon or Tony Stewart after racing nearly 1,100 miles in one day.

Jar of the Week…

…A couple of weeks ago NASCAR had The Winston - the all-star race.

During one of the segments of the race, Kurt Busch spun out Robbie Gordon.

No big deal right?

Wrong.

In post-race interviews, Busch said he did it on purpose to cause a caution and erase race-leader Ryan Newman's lead.

NASCAR officials didn't take too kindly to Busch admitting he caused an accident and fined him $10,000.

Maybe they should lock Busch in a room with Gordon's car owner Richard Childress.

"I will personally kick his (expletive) if he wrecks one of my cars and I know he did it on purpose," said Childress. "Write that down in the Bible because its the Gospel. And I can do it. I'm that mad. For him to go publicly two different times and run his mouth…he's not messing with just anybody."

Gordon added: "I wasn't even that mad about the accident. I understand we're in a risk business here, but not unnecessary risks. That was unnecessary and very immature."

I agree, what if Busch would have hurt or killed Gordon, could charges have been pressed?

I would hope so.

Paul P. Adams is a sports writer for the Huron Daily Tribune and can be reached at (989) 269-6461 ext. 112 or at padams@hdtinfo.com.